The average college student would be intimidated seeing a whole chicken laying on their cutting board in front of them. It’s not as scary as it seems and it’s actually cheaper to buy an entire chicken and break it down or even cook the thing whole- versus buying chicken breasts, wings, thighs or stock.
The average price of a whole chicken is $6.64 versus the price of boneless breasts averaging at over $12, based on information found on the USDA website for the month of February 2021. When you break down an entire chicken you get to use every part of that chicken with no waste.
Of course roasting the chicken has endless flavor possibilities and is a great option, but most college students won’t eat an entire chicken in one sitting. Meal prepping has been increasingly popular lately, and roasting a whole chicken would be a great idea for a healthy and easy way to do so.
If you decide to tackle it and break it down, you can get several meals out of it. You can freeze the parts you do not use to stock up, and thaw when needed. Plus you can throw the leftover bones into a pot with water and a few other ingredients, such as celery, carrots, onions and parsley to make homemade chicken stock.
A whole chicken will yield you two breasts, two thighs, two drumsticks and two wings. You can use the wings and drumsticks to make your own wings slathered in a sauce of your choosing like franks red hot, or try a dry rub seasoning like lemon pepper or garlic parmesan. Wings and drumsticks can be coated and fried but baking them or even frying in an air fryer would be a healthier option.
The thighs can be slow cooked. They will remain juicy and tend to be more flavorful than other cuts such as the breast. Moving along to those breasts, these are the healthiest cut and can dry out quickly so watch out when you are cooking them. Breasts can be cooked whole, cubed and put into casseroles or cut into strips. Really the choices are endless.
As per CDC guidelines, all chicken should be cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees. Lots of people also choose to wash their chicken before cooking, remember if you do wash your chicken to remove all items from your sink and thoroughly wash your sink afterwards to avoid contamination and the spreading of salmonella.